Hey kids!  There’s a Free Square Dance at LACMA [Los Angeles County Museum of Art] this Saturday 5/22 noonish to 3…

I’m calling, Triple Chicken Foot is playing and we made the L.A. TIMES HOT LIST! Come out for art, dancing, and tomatoes. Here’s the LA TIMES LINK:

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Now look kids, the escalators are not “rides,” though I confess I have enjoyed the numerous views offered all along the steep paths and the various landings. It is so high I have to hang on to the rail at times!

And be sure to walk amongst these seemingly common LA Street Lights – a gorgeous outside art exhibit that reminds me of an older and slower Los Angeles that my parents enjoyed. This display seems to capture the imagination of some of the geeky visitors.

Hope to see you at the Dance!

I love these faces! Please click to enlarge.

Old Time music gets 5th graders jumping!

The next time someone asks me why a hardcore Angeleno and big time TV writer wants to shlep all the way to Sitka, Alaska and spend 2 weeks in an elementary school music room I will direct them to these 2 photographs.  It’s really hard to capture  the kind of magic that happens when kids feel old-time music in their bodies and let it out on the dance floor, but here it is.

OLD TIME IS A GOOD TIME!

My brother David sent me a message the other day asking if I was the mayor of Sitka yet.  Well, I don’t think I’m cut out for local politics but I did get myself on the front page of the Daily Sitka Sentinel.  It was a little bit thrilling to be front page news but I have to keep it in perspective.  The headline photo in yesterday’s paper was a guy laying the chalk lines on the field at Sitka High School.  My fifteen minutes of fame are definitely up.

Keet Gooshi Heen Teachers (and some ringers)

The Virginia Reel - Click to enlarge

My first week at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School ended with an in-service for teachers who didn’t know what to expect and got a good dose of fun themselves.  I sprinkled a little bit of pedagogy in with a lot of dancing and jumping around and silliness.

Shake it, baby, shake it... - Click to enlarge

A few of the kids joined in and they got a real kick out of showing the ropes to their teachers.

Allemande Left your Partner!

As you can see it is really hard to shoot a moving target — with a camera that is!

My hike on the Mosquito Cove Trail

Here is the trail above my home - ravaged by the Southern California Fires - Click to enlarge

This Magical Trail is from a Story Book to people who live in Southern California! - Click to enlarge

The trail was certainly a far cry from the kind of dry,
ash-y  terrain I’ve been used to of late.

← AK vs CA →

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There was moss growing on … moss!

Running streams! - Click to enlarge

Running streams!
The smell of damp and earth and sea!

Happy Girl...

And back on the beach by my home away from home, I am a happy girl.

Cable House -- Home of KCAW 104.7 Raven Radio, Sitka, AK - Click to enlarge

Very candid shot of me with Raven Radio host Robert Woolsey - Click to enlarge

Tuesday morning I was invited to do a radio interview at the local public radio station KCAW 104.7 aka Raven Radio.  The interview took up the 10-minute local news block during NPR’s Morning Edition which made me feel like something of a VIC –Very Important Caller!

After writing more than 100 episodes of the TV show “Sightings,” I’ve gotten pretty cynical about mystical, metaphysical and “paranormal” phenomena.  But this morning I had a visitation from the spirit realm.  It started with a phone call at about 8:45 am.  As the phone rang, the computerized voice of my Caller ID intoned …

… Hubert Gene Hubert Gene Hubert Gene

Strange, I thought.   Gene Hubert died almost 4 years ago.

“Hello, is this Susan Michaels the caller?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked.  “You don’t know me but I am Jenny Hubert, Gene Hubert’s wife.”  Jenny was calling because she  had just found an obituary I’d written about caller Gene Hubert for Folkworks Magazine in 2006.  If you haven’t seen it, please read my tribute to Gene here …  (Scroll down to page 28 in the magazine…)

Jenny was calling to thank me for what I had written about Gene and how remarkable it was that I’d been so deeply influenced by a man I’d never met.  I told her I’d just been thinking about Gene the night before at the Boxing Day Dance at Citrus College in Glendora, CA.  For the umpteenth time, he’d “rescued me” with a classic dance perfect for all the newcomers.  Jenny had missed seeing my written tribute when it first came out but today is Gene’s birthday and Jenny was spending a little time googling his name … my original obituary came up on the first page of google searches — undoubtedly because of this website which has suddenly given me a “presence” out in the ethereal realm of cyberspace.

Jenny and I spoke for about 15 minutes and later that day she sent me a lengthy and  moving letter about love, life, death, hope, dance, and Gene.  What we shared was deeply personal and not meant for this blog but I must share one thing Jenny said to me because I am forever changed by it.

She told me that when she and Gene married, she wove two hearts together into the infinity symbol and that symbol endures in her heart as Gene’s symbol.  She told me I could borrow it whenever I needed.  “Think about that symbol,” Jenny said, “when you are searching for creative spirit and strength.  You can borrow Gene’s inspiration whenever you need it.”

I have been thinking about that symbol all day.  I am drawing strength from it and marveling at the way the internet has connected me to a guiding spirit I so sorely need right now.

Thank you, Jenny.  Rest in peace, Gene.

There is something about New Year’s Eve in Ojai that always makes me feel optimistic about the coming year.  The Ojai Art Center is cozy and filled with Ojai, Santa Barbara, and L.A. dancing friends.  Delicious home made treats in the hallway let you know we’re a tribe of gardeners, cheese makers, beekeepers, bakers, and artists.  The band is Bonfire who always set the place on fire and this year our dear sound guru Victor Garza will be joining on bass.  Our hostess with the mostest is Karin Dron who manages to create a home-y, welcoming atmosphere that’s so seamless we sometimes forget how much work she puts into making this dance something extra special.  We’re not the biggest dance in So Cal, but the joyful spirit in Ojai on New Year’s Eve is as big as our hearts.  Please come.

You can click the flyer to enlarge it – then print it…

Here is the address to cut and paste into your favorite map program:

Ojai Center for the Arts

113 S Montgomery Street, Ojai, CA 93023

Boxing Day Contra Cance

Susan Michaels is calling and Bonfire is playing at  Citrus College, December 26, 2009

I’m calling a free dance at Citrus College in Glendora, CA on December 26, 2009.  This special Boxing Day dance is hosted by Dan Vilter and if last year’s dance is any indication there will be more than 100 people there including lots of college students eager to give Contra Dancing a try.  Be there or be square!  No wait — be there AND be square!  VIDEO LINK to watch the dance…

Techno-contra West

I traveled to Seattle, WA for the first ever west-coast Techno-Contra Dance at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center on 12-11-09.

It was a cold 18-degrees when I landed in Seattle but by the time I’d finished four hours of trance and techno dancing at The Fremont Abbey, I was one hot tamale.

Techno-contra Dance West    (VIDEO)
link at the end of this post…

Techno-contra West ~ Photo courtesy of Doug Plummer

The organizers’ admonition to drink lots of water and bring a change of clothes was right on the mark.  It was the most intensely aerobic night of dancing I’d had since the old days of the Santa Cruz Dawn Dance when we were all in our 20s and dancing from 8pm to 8am just seemed like the right thing to do.

At the first-ever West Coast Techno-Contra dance on December 11, 2009, the crowd was young, the music was played by a DJ, the engineered lighting and sound was stunning, famous photographer Doug Plummer was there to capture the moments, and the first dance lasted an amazing 90 minutes.  It blew my mind.

I’d come to Seattle for Dare To Be Square – West: a weekend-PLUS of old-time music by The Small Wonder String Band and The Tallboys with calling by Bob Dalsemer.  But here I am sweating, losing weight for the “cause,” – to be a force in getting this Techno-Contra Dancing more firmly into the L.A. Dance Scene in 2010!

Techno-contra West ~ Photo courtesy of Doug Plummer

Techno-contra West ~ Photo courtesy of Doug Plummer

Here is another

Doug Plummer Video

from the first-ever West Coast Techno Contra Dance.

Hmmmm…
Not many “Old Foggies” seen in this video.